


Rica/Boyfriend

by missema



Category: Dragon Age, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-01
Updated: 2013-01-23
Packaged: 2017-11-26 16:16:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/652123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missema/pseuds/missema
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Originally two short side stories for the Warden in 'One Last Warden Story'. </p><p>Family is what you make of it, but Marinelle was always lucky in that way.  She had Rica, and later, Alistair.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Rica

“I can only imagine the horrible things he’s made you do.”  

Rica forced herself to look her sister in the eye while she said it, but she was able to imagine all too well what Beraht had made Marinelle do.  If only she could be brave like her sister, her future wouldn’t depend on a gamble and a tussle with a nobleman, but she had never been one for arms or lockpicking.  There was but one way she could get out of the slums, and Beraht knew it.

At least she wasn’t like the two other girls in his stable, the ones that had given birth to baby girls.  Female children, casteless because their mothers were casteless, condemned to the same fate at birth.  Rica shuddered just to think of them, because even though they still got dressed up all pretty to hunt nobles, they were somehow less, already once failed.  They barely spoke to anyone but each other, solidarity found by their shared sense of ruin and desperation.  Every hunt for them was borne of grim determination, anger and stifled hope behind their false smiles.

This wasn’t the life for Marinelle.  When her sister left that morning, to do whatever it is she needed to do for Beraht, she’d gotten down on her knees and begged and pleaded with the Ancestors.  Not for herself, Rica knew her own limitations and was lucky to have gotten this far, but for her little sister.

All of her hopes and dreams were for her sister, all for Marinelle.  Her sister who was smart and fierce, her blades as quick as her mind and just as sharp.  For the woman she’d become, who didn’t know how she turned heads wherever she went.  Rica had overheard more than one duster who had eyes for Marinelle, but feared getting the pointy end of her daggers should they ever make a move.  It was for her future, so she didn’t wind up in prison, or someplace worse because she was brash and temperamental, her heat overcoming her good sense on a few occasions.  

But it was a little for Rica, so she could know that she’d done right by someone, that she’d been good for her sister, that when it came down to it, she could be a good mother.

When she left Orzammar with the Grey Warden, Rica was so proud of her.


	2. Boyfriend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the Blight, King Alistair accompanies the Paragon Marinelle to Orzammar.

There wasn't much that Alistair could say he'd ever done properly, at least not the way its read about in book.  Taking the throne had been more of a last resort after civil war, and joining the Wardens had been a welcome escape from the Chantry.  His part in the Blight, well, he'd been important, but not the hero.  And he was fine with that.  Ending the Blight wouldn't have been possible without two women - one the sorceress Flemeth who saved them at Ostagar, he preferred not to think about.  But his love and fellow Warden, Marinelle, he would do anything she'd ask.

Which is why he'd gone to Orzammar with her.

After the Deep Roads, he was content to keep Orzammar's imposing stone doors far away for years, until he absolutely had to go back.  But Marinelle Brosca was a hero to her people, a Paragon, and they wanted to see her again.

Not to mention she was an aunt and loved her sister and nephew very much.  The people in her city that looked up to her, as a hero and living Ancestor.  They knew of her duties to the Wardens, that she couldn't stay, but they wanted as much of her as they could get.

So he'd taken on the role of King and ambassador for her, not knowing that he would have one more hat to don while in Orzammar.

He was the Paragon's _boyfriend_.  Rica grilled him when they first arrived, quietly questioning him in her sweet and somewhat forceful manner.  He imagined it was something like meeting the parents for the first time in a betrothal, but when King Bhelen sat him down and asked about her, he could swear the man meant to intimidate him, just a little.

"How is Marinelle doing on the surface?  Never forget she's our Paragon, and we'd welcome her home at any time."  He said it as if Marinelle wasn't also called the Hero of Ferelden.  Perhaps in his mind, a trifle like Ferelden and its people were of little importance.

Alistair cleared his throat.  "We've been fine since the end of the Blight.  She's been instrumental in helping me rebuild Ferelden."

"So you are involved with her?"  Bhelen asked, not bothering to hide his smirk.

"I've been in love with her since we met, when she joined the Grey Wardens.  Surely you noticed during our last visit?"  Bhelen shook his head, but Alistair wasn't surprised.  He'd been so busy sending them into the Deep Roads and securing his crown, how could he have noticed the two of them?

 "If you love her, make her your consort."  Bhelen goaded, startling Alistair.  The remark reminded him of just why he hadn't really cared for the man even when they'd been helping him take the throne.

Alistair gave him as severe of a look as he could muster.  This wasn't a subject he took lightly and would not be challenged on it.  Bhelen may be ruler of Orzammar, but Alistair was a king too.  "Would your people allow you to have a human consort?"  He asked.

Bhelen looked Alistair in the eye.  "No, they wouldn't even allow me to marry Rica."

"You see my predicament then.  We all have our duties to uphold.  Just because I love her doesn't mean I can do as my heart desires.  If I could, we'd still travel the land together as Wardens."

Suddenly, Bhelen laughed, breaking the tension, the sound clear and ringing around the stone room.  "I don't know Rica's sister well, but I think you're a good match, King Alistair.  Not at all what I was expecting from a human.

Alistair gave a wan smile, willing his annoyance to stay off his face.  No, he wasn't what was expected, which was probably someone more like Cailan, but he was king, and more importantly, he loved Marinelle.  Whatever else happened in Orzammar, he'd make sure that by the time they returned to the surface, not a single soul in the city would question them.


End file.
